The Struggles of Link
by Father Hulk
Summary: A story based entirely on the first Legend of Zelda game! How about that? A detailing of Link's struggles across Hyrule to find the pieces of the Triforce. Please read and review!


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The Struggles of Link

A Zelda 1 Fanfic by Father Hulk

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Author's Notes: Greetings! Father Hulk coming before you once again, with a new venture: The first, if not only, fanfic based entirely on Zelda 1! I hope I can write it well enough for it to be worth of recognition by you, the famed readers of ! So, let's get things rolling, and please review when you are done! Good reviews give our God incredible powers! Bad reviews and flames are given to Eric Cartman, so he can try to sell them to FINALLY make his $2 million. Enjoy!

"Hyah! Take that, you!" Link exclaimed, stepping backwards as the boss of the third dungeon, The Manji, exploded, leaving behind a big beautiful heart container. "This is well worth the effort," Link said, sheathing his White Sword and picking up the heart. Then he walked into the next chamber, where the Triforce chunk sat waiting for him. "You're coming with me!" Link said, tucking the fragment in his bag. Then, as usual, he was transported outside.

Link was three days into the quest assigned to him by the elderly nursemaid, Impa. She had found him deep in Hyrule, and begged him to gather the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom and rescue the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda. Ganon, the prince of darkness, was holding Zelda inside Death Mountain, and he owned the Triforce of Power. Whoever got their hands on both Triforces would rule Hyrule forever! That is why Link was traveling across Hyrule... to prevent that disaster.

"Gosh, I'm starving!" Link exclaimed as he left the Lost Woods. "I gotta buy some grub, quick." He patted his wallet. "Luckily I have saved up 60 Rupees! Heh heh heh." He journeyed north, and came to the small shrine where six Armos statues stood, still as stone. "Awake!" Link whispered, pressing his hand to the north-center statue, and then jumped out of the way as the statue came to life and moved around. Link chuckled and went down the staircase that was revealed.

The shopkeeper was busy checking out the merchandise for sale. "Boy, this stuff is really expensive," he was saying to himself, and then he noticed Link. "Ah, welcome! Good of you to have found us! What can I get you?"

"I'll have one piece of Food, please." Link said.

"Food... let's see..." the shopkeeper looked around, and then saw some sitting against the right wall. "Here we go! That'll be 60 rupees."

Link eagerly paid the man, and left the shop holding his dripping, juicy, succulent lunch. "Food at last!" he cried. "I want to enjoy this." He sat down under a nearby tree and prepared to enjoy the food, but just then, he heard a whimpering sound from within the woods. Being the compassionate hero that he was, Link got up and went to investigate.

"Help me... help me!" cried a voice. Link found the source: A Red Moblin had been injured and was lying in state in the forest. "Oh sir, you have to help me!"

"What happened?" Link asked, still clutching his food.

"An Octorock hit me hard, and I can't move! I think I'm bleeding! Can you come look?" asked the pathetic creature.

"Let me see..." Link said, bending over.

"Oh no, you must get closer!" The Moblin said. Link bent down even closer, and when he did, the Moblin took out a club and whacked Link over the head, and then jumped up and made off with the meat. "Ha ha ha! What a sucker!" it chortled as it sped off.

"Damn it! That creep took my lunch!" Link fumed. He plopped down on the grass. "Great! Now, if I still want to have lunch, I have to walk all over the place and gather money again... screw it, it's not worth it. Heroes go hungry once in a while too." And picking his hungry self up off the forest floor, he began searching for the next dungeon.

"So... many....monsters!" Link gasped as he struggled through the snake-shaped fourth dungeon. There were Wizzrobes aplenty, but luckily Link had his sturdy magic shield to block the blasts. Without it, he would be toast. However, there was also a new threat: Like Likes. They would eat Link's shield if they could get him. So Link was trying earnestly to avoid the tube-shaped creatures at all costs.

It was in one particular chamber that Link was valiantly zapping an assortment of enemies. He finished with what he thought was the last one, and flopped back against the wall. "Zelda better damn well kiss me when I rescue her, for what I'm going through," he huffed, closing his eyes. He did not, however, see the final creature that was hiding behind one of the statues... a big, puffy Like Like. Slowly, it oozed towards him. His eyes were still shut... he suspected nothing. Link suddenly felt like he was being pulled inside a cotton candy machine. "Hey! What the hell?" He cried, struggling within his gelatinous prison. He felt a great weight being lifted from his right hand, and then he was thrust back onto the chamber floor.

"No..." he whispered, observing the object he now held which was little more than a scrap piece of wood. "No! My shield! Why you!" He drew his White Sword and put an end to the beast.

"Great! Just great!" he muttered, kicking the wall. "Now what do I do? Ah, heck, I can get through here without a shield. This is only the fourth dungeon, how hard could it be?" He strode into the next chamber, to have his question answered. He was surrounded on all sides by blue and red Wizzrobes, their hands glowing as they summoned their magic.

"Shit." Link gulped, and then the Wizzrobes zapped him into unconsciousness.

He awoke back at the origin of his journey. "Whoo... what a trip..." he mumbled, getting to his feet. He knew what he had to do. He had to buy a new shield. He had no choice! But that meant a long journey of gathering Rupees. Grumbling mightily, he set off.

Two hours later, he walked exhaustedly into the central Hyrule wholesale store. "Give me a shield," he said hoarsely.

"Yes sir!" said the shopkeeper, getting on a stepladder and getting a shiny new magic shield down from the wall. "90 Rupees, sir!"

"Here..." Link said, throwing a bag of rupees onto the table.

"Thank you, sir." said the shopkeeper, taking the bag with greedy little hands.

And so it was that Link journeyed back across the Hyrulean river on his raft, back to The Snake. And it also came to be that Link arrived back in the same chamber as before. "Hello?" he called, his voice echoing off the damp walls. "Any Like Likes in here? Because if there is, I'm going to kill you!" He checked the whole room, and there was nothing to be found. "Ah, good. Looks like they've learned their lesson." He was on his way to the door when suddenly something fell on him from above!

"No! Not again!" Link cried, hacking out of the Like Like's body. "You can't hang from the ceiling! That's just not proper!" But the Like Like simply munched up the rest of Link's shield and burped.

"Back again?" the shopkeeper said, looking up.

"Yes...." Link groaned. "A shield please."

"Certainly." The shopkeeper got on the stool and got a shield down from the wall. "90 rupees."

Link grudgingly passed him the money.

"Here you are! And... try not to lose it this time, hero."

"I'll keep that in mind!" Link spat, leaving the shop.

Late in the day, Link finally emerged from The Snake victorious, the fourth piece of the Triforce tucked safely in his bag. But he was exhausted, and needed to buy more Water of Life. He journeyed far across Hyrule to the potion shop at the edge of the Lost Woods.

"I'd like a Red Potion please," he said to the old woman.

"Do you have the letter?" the old woman asked.

"Uh, yeah, hang on..." Link dug into his bag and felt around, but didn't feel the slip of parchment. He patted his pockets, but it wasn't there. "It was right in my bag," he said, getting down on the floor and tossing the contents of his bag everywhere. But the letter was nowhere to be found. He stood up. "Look, old lady, you know who I am, right? I buy medicine here all the time!"

"I can't sell to you without the letter." The old woman said firmly.

"I understand..." Link mumbled, leaving the shop. The only way he could buy medicine now was if he trekked all the way up into the mountains and talked to the old man again. But, he needed medicine, and so he started his journey. Up past Lake Hylia he went, up to the foot of the Lost Hills, and there he climbed the stairs to meet the old man.

"What do you want?" asked the old man, who was meditating.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir," Link said, "But I need another letter so that I can buy medicine."

"You want me to write you another letter?" the old man scoffed. "What did you do, lose the other one?"

"Well... yeah."

"See that's the problem with kids these days! So irresponsible, always losing things! Grr..." the old man hobbled over to his desk and pulled out a sheet of blue parchment. "...yadda yadda, let the boy buy... medicine. Signed, the old man. Ok, here! Take it and get lost!"

"Thank you very much, sir!" Link said gratefully, leaving the cave.

Back at the old woman's hut, Link quickly showed the letter to the old woman.

"Ah ha, I see," she said, reading it. "Well, unfortunately, I ran out of medicine, so I have to brew some more."

"How long will that take?" Link asked, exasperated.

"About two hours. Why don't you keep me company until it's ready?"

Link had nothing better to do -- he couldn't go to the next dungeon without medicine -- so he agreed.

"Let me make some herbal tea," she said, taking a teapot off the stove and pouring some yellow liquid into a mug. "Here, drink it!"

Link sipped the tea, and made a face... it was horrid! But he wanted to be polite, so he didn't spit it out.

"Now then, let me tell you about my grandkids!" the old woman said pleasantly, sitting down. "I have 8 of them. Now, Xavier is short, but wild. He can............................. (Two hours later) .... and right now, he is working for a sorcerer in a far off land. And, I think that covers all of them."

Link sat there, nearly asleep. For two hours the woman rattled on.

"Ah, I think the medicine is ready!" she said, checking the big pot. "Yes it is! Now do you want red potion or blue potion?"

"Red, please." Link said.

"All right." The old woman took out a vial, and poured two scoops of blue potion into it, which mixed to become red potion. "Here you go, sonny. 68 Rupees if you don't mind."

"Here..." Link handed over the money, and put the potion in his bag.

"Thanks for keepin an old woman company!" the woman thanked him, as he left.

"No problem." Link replied, rolling his eyes. He was off to find the fifth piece of the Triforce.

Two more days into Link's quest, we find him near the end of dungeon seven, The Demon. He has a new weapon now: the magic wand. He can fire precision blasts of magic for long distances, making him a much deadly warrior indeed.

He entered the chamber a few chambers away from the boss's lair, and found some Like Like's waiting for him. "Oh no you don't!" he exclaimed, powering up his magic wand and zapping away. The Like Likes were gone in instants.

Finally, he reached the boss's chamber, but when he entered, it was empty, save for a Goriya guarding the door to the Triforce room.

"Excuse me," Link said, approaching. "Are you the boss?"

"HA! I wish!" said the Goriya.

"Well if you're not, then where is the boss?"

"He's not here." Said the Goriya curtly. "He went to go find some monsters to have for his dinner."

"I see. Well the only thing blocking the way to the Triforce is you, so..." Link dramatically pulled out his Magic Sword.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Goriya said. "You can kill me, but the door only opens when the boss dies. See, Aquamentus's horn generates the magical force that keeps the door barred. Only when he is defeated will the door open. So I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."

And so Link plopped down on the dungeon floor and waited... and waited.... and waited. The Goriya passed the time by throwing his boomerang at Link, while Link just held out his shield and kept blocking.

Suddenly, deep roars could be heard coming closer. The Goriya quickly made himself scarce, and Link drew his sword as Aquamentus, the great dragon beast, burst into the room.

"Welcome," he hissed, flicking out his tongue. "Come to see me?"

"Yes indeed." Link said, "Or rather, to kill you!"

"Oh, Link," Hissed Aquamentus, "You can't kill me! You won't let yourself!"

"That's not true!" Link said, stepping forward towards the towering beast. "I can do it easily."

"Well, you can," Aquamentus agreed. "But before you attack me, let me ask you this: your journey has taken you to far away places, and you have killed many monsters. Does that weigh heavy on your conscience?"

Link thought a moment. "No... not really."

"Why not?"

"Well..." Link scratched his head. "Because they're just monsters, I guess."

"Just monsters?" Aquamentus asked, arching a scaly eyebrow. "Just monsters? What if the monsters formed armies and killed people like you off, saying that you are 'just humans'? Would that be equal?"

"Well... um..." Link was taken aback by this line of reasoning. "But humans do things that are constructive."

"But constructive is all relative," Aquamentus continued. "We do things that seem constructive to us. We kill innocents because we need to eat, not because it's fun. Like Like's eat shields because the wood is melted and becomes their bodies. Otherwise they'd melt away."

"Listen," Link said, "I understand and sympathize completely, but the fact is that I need to get to the Triforce piece."

Aquamentus rolled his eyes. "Link, I'd _give_ the piece to you! But I am under orders from Ganon not to let you have it, so my claws are tied."

"Well, can't you turn off the magic in your horn?" Link asked.

"No..." the beast replied. "The only thing would be to cut my horn off, but that would cost me my life."

Link looked down. He didn't know what to do. He felt enormous compassion for Aquamentus and for all the monsters, but...

"Link..." Aquamentus said, "Do it. Take my horn."

"But..."

Aquamentus stopped him. "Your mission is more important than my life. If you succeed you will restore Hyrule to its glory, and all living things will be happy. Please, don't say anything and take my horn."

Link nodded, and climbed up Aquamentus's back up to his head. "Thank you," he said, stroking the beast's snout. The dragon nodded and braced itself. Link raised his sword, held his breath, and sliced off the horn. Aquamentus dissolved from under him, and he landed on the floor with a heart piece waiting for him and the door to the Triforce room open. He sighed and went in. His quest was nearly over, and when he finally defeated Ganon and saved Zelda, he would be named a hero. But Link didn't feel the need to be called a hero. All he needed was to know he was doing the right thing. But sometimes, he just wasn't sure. He tucked Aquamentus's horn inside his bag, as a keepsake to remember the compassionate monster who helped him see a little more of the truth.

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THE END!

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The Struggles of Link has been written by Father Hulk

(c) 2004 PDG Network in association with the St. Eva Church.

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BENEDICTION: So, what do you all think? I think it went rather well! But as usual, it is not my opinion that matters! Please review this story! Thank you! Until next time... farewell.


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